Blood Pact
by MandoGirl22
Summary: Shae returns to Mandalore to start a rebellion even if she becomes a one woman rebel cell on Mandalore.
1. Chapter 1

_Keldabe Interstellar Spaceport, Mandalore._

Shae Verd stepped out of the _Kote Darasuum_ a _Teroch_ -type gunship and looked around, hitching her satchel higher up on her shoulder. She then walked out of the hotel that she was staying in, the light of the lamp shinning off her armor. Her clothing consisted of an older style Mandalorian armor of a primarily black coloration, over a black form-fitting flight suit. In addition to boots and a utility belt, she also benefited from her armor's gauntlets, the left of which was equipped with a hologram projector. Both gauntlets housed miniature flamethrowers capable of producing powerful streams of fire, and each was mounted with wrist rocket launchers that fired deadly projectiles.

Shae had her helmet clipped to her belt, like her armor it too was an old style. She carries two blasters holstered on her armor's thigh plates, that she was known to wield with deadly accuracy. The woman also carries a sniper rifle. Her dark brown hair that was pulled back in a messy braided bun, her almond shaped brown eyes taking in the scenery around her.

She felt something brush against her leg and looked down to see her companion with her, she smiles at Tal, her strill companion. "We're home, Tal…ready to go home?"

Tal warbled up at her before walking a little ahead of Shae but the leash that was attached to his collar prevented him from going any further. Tal looked like any other strill that could be found on Mandalore, he even drooled a lot too.

Shae looked up when she noticed that was about to bump into someone and quickly moved so that she would only brush against the man's shoulders. She pauses to look back at him; he was wearing the traditional Mandalorian armor. The armor is painted dull black with two vertical gray stripes over the left side of the helmet and a single wide gray bar down his chest plates. He wears three different belts; one for his weapon holsters, one with clips for his lightsabers, and one comprised of a series of belt pouches with which he carries varying equipment. He also wears a simple black belt-skirt that hangs a little past his knees and armored war boots.

She felt Tal tug at his leash, which jarred her out of her thoughts before she looks at the man one last time before she turns and starts to head to the one hotel that was in this city. Shae wasn't going to go home just yet, not until tomorrow…she was too tired to back that long trip to the Verd home.


	2. Chapter 2

Verd _vheh'yaim, Mandalore_

Shae stepped out of the Verd _vheh'yaim_ ; it was a subterranean home, which was located to the West of Keldabe. She was holding a mug of coffee in her hands; she took a sip as she watched the sunset before turning and walking into back into the house. She stepped into the _karyai_ , pausing briefly to look into a nest made out of blankets and old clothes. There were three small balls of little tan balls of strill; they were Tal's babies when he switched genders on her yesterday.

She headed to her room where she was looking through the computer that was in her room, mainly looking to see what was happening on Mandalore while she was away…not much was happening so she figured that she would check the action at the _Oyu'baat_. She stood up and patted her armored thigh, Tal jerked awake and trotted over to him so that Shae could clip his leash on.

"C'mon, Tal…let's see what Aramis can tell us about the activities going on around here," she said earning a warble from her pet. They left the house and took a speeder to Keldabe, she parked it down the street from the _Oyu'baat_. Though Shae was able to pick out a few different species - a Twi'lek here, a Nikto there, even a bulky Gamorrean – the majority of the patrons were humans, dressed in everything from simple farming robes to full-body combat armor. Of those who wore armor, Shae saw a bewildering array of colors and color schemes. She saw both polished and dull variations of reds, blues, silvers, golds, and hundreds of other colors.

Shae and her pet ignored the shops and luckily for them there wasn't very much traffic out so they had reached their destination on record time. Shae headed to a fairly well-kept collection of interconnected buildings with rounded tops. A long rectangular window stretched along one side of the center building and a sign sported the same angular Mandalorian runes she'd seen all over the city and beneath the runes in Basic was: UNIVERSE TAPCAF. NO STRILLS INSIDE – BARTER ACCEPTED.

Shae looked at Tal said, "You stay here, Tal." She ties him to a post outside the door and walks into the building.

The cantina/motel was as busy as ever. She could hear the talking, laughing, even arguing from outside across the street; there was some kind of loud music playing over the speakers. She saw the barkeep, was cleaning a dinged and dented metal drink mug. He was wearing a long cook's apron, smeared with gravy and other stains that looked mysteriously like blood; Shae hoped that it was animal blood. He had long gray hair that hung to his shoulders and a thin, serious face.

Shae waved to the bartender and shouted over the noise, "Aramis! You handsome _Mando'ad_ you! How have you been?!"

The bartender looked up, staring around at his surroundings. When his gaze fell on Shae, he relaxed and nodded in greeting.

Shae fought her way to the bar. Once there, she put her hands on the countertop and said, "You're as handsome as ever! You look like you haven't aged a day!"

"It makes me happy to hear a woman as young and pretty as you say that about me, _Sha'ika_ ," he said as he got her a glass of the dark liquid. "You just got back?" Shae leaned against the counter and said, "Yeah, got here yesterday."

"I hope you headed straight home when you got here, _Sha'ika_ ," he said in a slightly scolding tone.

"I did…after I took a nap of course, was too tired to head straight home after I landed," she said with a grin, Aramis ruffled her hair slightly earning a squeak of discomfort from Shae. "Not a kid anymore, Aramis."

Aramis smiles sadly and says, "I know but after losing Kestra, I don't want to lose you too, _Sha'ika_."

She drummed her fingers on the counter as she winced inwardly, Kestra was really lost but she had promised her cousin that she wouldn't say anything. "Aramis, what's going on today?" She asked to take his mind off Kestra.

"Nothing much, you missed a lot of action while you were away, _Sha'ika_ ," he said cleaning a mug.

Shae chuckles and says, "I am sure someone will tell me about it later." She looks around and noticed Vhetin and his partner sitting in the back corner with some of the Skiratas were with them as well, she smiles when she sees Kal and Walon with them. "I have to say hello to two old timers, Aramis…it was nice talking to you."

She walked over to them and said, leaning down to kiss Walon and then Kal on the forehead's, surprising both men by how silent she was, "What's up, you old timers?"

Walon laughed and ruffled Shae's hair, she knocked away his arm good naturedly and said, "Hey, Sha'ika…you just got back?"

"Yeah, yesterday…and yes, I visited my mother as soon I was able to think clearly," she said with a laugh. Kal reached up and kissed her cheek, "It's good to see you, _Sha'ika_." She gave a one arm hugged to Gotab and Rame, and to Jaing she flung herself into his arms and hugged him…just like she used to do when she was little.

Shae chuckled and said, "Yeah though I don't have good news…I have to go see Fenn about it."

Venku looked up at that and said, "What's it about?"

Shae bite her lower lip and said a little hesitantly, "It's about Kestra's death…I found out who was behind it."

Cin looked up at that point and turned his helmeted at Shae, she knew that he was staring at her…Kestra was like a little sister to him so of course he was worried about her, especially given the strict training that those two had gone through with Shae's and Kestra's aunt, Ranek Verd. And Shae had a major crush on him after helping to save him with Jay a couple of months ago but she kept those emotions at bay…especially with the news that she carried.

"Who was behind it, _Sha'ika_?" Kal finally asked since everyone else seemed to be too speechless to ask.

Shae shook her head and said, "I have to tell Fenny first but I will tell you after lunch…hopefully the _Oyu'baat_ won't be too coward by then."

She waves good-bye and walks out of the tapcaf, heading towards the building where _Mand'alor_ resided in.

 _Mand'alor's House, Keldabe_

Shae was sitting in front of Fenn Shysa, _Mand'alor_ and an old friend to Shae's mother, Mirta Verd. "So you found out who was behind Kestra's death?" Fenn asked getting straight to the point after reading her report.

"Yes, _Mand'alor_ ," she said swallowing; she knew that he wasn't going to like this…not one bit. "The evidence that I have gathered about Kestra Verd's death is that members of the terrorist group called Death Watch are behind it…just as they were behind the deaths of members of the Verd clan, including Xiamara Verd and Mirta Verd to name a few."

Silence then Fenn whispered, "Are you sure, Shae?"

She nods her head and said, "You of all people should know that the Verd clan always find our target, _Mand'alor_ …we were breed to be fighters as well as trackers."

Fenn sat back in his seat and rubbed his face, sighing, "This isn't good at all…a lot of Mando'ade would rather Death Watch be dead and gone…"

"As long as Viszla's mad legacy lives on so will the Death Watch, _Mand'alor_ ," Shae says looking down at her shaking clasped hands. Fenn sighs again and says, "Go tell your clan and the Skiratas…especially Cin, he hadn't mourned her death like a normal person so maybe he would mourn her death if he knew who killed her."

She stands up and says, "Are you sure that he won't go after them?"

"I hope not," was all Fenn said before grabbing a mug and filling it with _tihaar_. Shae inclines her head respectfully towards him before walking out and heading back to the _Oyu'baat._ She knew that this would anger and tear them apart but it was hard to tell with Cin, according to Jay he had been pretty upset when Kestra was kidnapped but no one knew how he would react to this.

Shae sighs heavily and thinks, _Sometimes it's a curse to be a good tracker…it lands on us to deliver devastating news_. And this was devastating as they come, Shae didn't want to tell them but she had promised that she would and she had been told to tell them by her _Mand'alor_.


	3. Chapter 3

Verd _, vheh'yaim_

The female Mandalorian shakes her head and said, "No, I'll tell you how we found her…the older _vode_ know this story and I was just recently told this… _Ba'vodu_ doesn't like talking about it…" She takes a deep breath and began her story, "It happened just as the Clone Wars ended, _Ba'vodu_ was outside when this happened doing some last minute chores and when suddenly he heard a loud crashing sound came from just a few meters behind the tree line. So he went to investigate it and what he came across surprised him, there in a small crater was an escape pod…he walked towards it and looked through the window and saw that there was a pregnant woman inside, badly hurt and bleeding…and she had gone into labor so that was probably the reason why she had crashed." Jay silently gasped and covered her mouth. "So he broke into the pod and carried her back to the _vheh'yaim_ , yelling for _Ba'vodu_ Rav to help the woman…after a hard and long birth, a baby girl was born but her mother was slowly bleeding and tried as hard as she could _Ba'vodu_ Rav couldn't stop the bleeding." Shae pauses briefly but continues on, her voice breaking, "She was asked who she was but she just shook her head and whispered weakly, to take care of Kestra and raise her as one of our own…to protect her from those who would harm her…and a few minutes later, she had died and Ba'vodu burnt her body. He mentions her during his list names of the departed, an unknown woman who died before she could even hold her baby…he told me that she wasn't strong enough to touch her baby but he could see that she had wanted to."

There was silence and Venku broke it by saying, "So no one knew her mother?" Shae shook her head and said, "Nope, she wasn't from around here and _Ba'vodu_ found out what she meant by protecting her from those who would harm her…she was three when she first used the Force and after that he tried everything to hide her and protect her, and that was by teaching her how to defend herself."

Cin crosses his arms over his chest and said, "That would explain why Kes'ika preferred to hang out with us…in fact I remember that she got into a fight with some kids when she was younger." Shae nods her head and said, "Yeah, it was because they kept calling her _aruetii_ even though she had been raised since birth in our cultural…everyone knew about how she came here and about her birth mother expect for _Kes'ika_ and those boys were so mean to her but she never once cried…at least that's _Ba'vodu_ told me, I was with my mother during those times and Kestra never brought it up nor did she like talking about it." Not only that but Kestra had known she was different, she just hadn't known why she felt that way.

There was silent and then Shae broke it by saying, "I wish that we could have told this to Kestra but sadly she was killed before we even could." She lowered her head slightly in grief; Shae looked up when she felt someone's hand on her own and saw Vhetin there. She had to force herself not to react by the comforting touch by blushing; it was a comforting touch and nothing more. "I'm fine, Vhetin….I just miss her."

"I miss her too," Vhetin said before he pulls his hand away and sits back.

She clears her throat and said, "It's getting late, you can sleep here for the night if you want to and if you decide to stay, do not leave the house at night….there's been a pack of Kalo Wolves running around here lately."

"Why haven't you called the Rangers to get rid of the pack?" Kal asked.

Shae shrugs her shoulders and said, "They haven't been bothering us and we don't leave the clearing at all so we figured we'll be safe….for the time being that is." She stands up and points down one of the hallways, "The guest rooms are down that way, make yourselves comfortable and remember: no leaving the house at night no matter what." With that she turns around and walks out of the room, her strill was soon to follow after her.

Cin and Jay decided to stay the night while everyone went back to their homes; they stayed up for a few more hours before going to bed. As Jay lay down in bed, she could hear howling from a distant as if they were mourning as well.

 _Morning_

Shae was cooking in the kitchen when Jay and Cin got up in the morning; Tal was lying just outside the doorway to the kitchen. Tal opened one eye when he heard them enter but closed it soon afterwards with a snort. She looked over her shoulder when she heard that and smiled, "Morning….I see that you two stayed."

Cin sat down at the table and said, "Yeah, they wanted to return to their own homes and not impose on you any longer than they had to."

"I see…well, that's too bad breakfast is going to be good," she puts down a plate and bowl before she picks up a datapad and goes through it, making no move to get herself a plate.

"You're not eating?" Jay asked her.

"No, I already ate…excuse me, I have things to do," Shae said with a casual wave as she heads out, Tal quickly follows after her.

Jay looked at Cin and said, "You know after doing a mission with her, I thought she would be a little more…I don't know, open."

"The Verd Clan isn't well known to be very open with others, they tend to keep to themselves," Cin explained. "And that means we can't stay here too long either, Shae may not mind us being here but her _Ba'vodu_ would…no matter how friendly he was to us."

With that being said, they ate their food in silence before getting up and heading out of the building. Cin could see Shae near the tree line; she looked to be talking to someone on her comlink. She notices Cin looking at her and she waved, smiling.

Cin waved back before climbing into his speeder and taking off with Jay right behind him.

Shae watched them leave in silence before she turns back to the conversation that she was having with the man on the other end. "I understand but you are asking me to blow up an Imperial Garrison….not something that's very easy to do unless you have something in mind, sir."

The voice on the other side was crackled a bit and it didn't sound normal so she knew that he was trying to keep their identity a secret from the Empire. "I know, _Seroc_ Verd but you are the only one from your planet who is willing to go against the Imperial presence there."

"Yay me…" was the sarcastic response from Shae. "I know but at least tell me that you have a plan about how I should proceed with this."

"Oh, my dear _Seroc_ Verd….I just give you the missions, you are the artist on these sort of things so you can figure it out."

- _Click-_

Shae stares at her comlink in silence before she turns it off with a huff, clipping it back onto her belt, "An artist…right…and I swear if he's insulting me every time he calls me 'Seroc' I am putting a bolt right between his eyes."

She pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs, "Not only do I have to deal with the whole Death Watch problem but I now have to deal with an Imperial problem as well… _Mand'alor_ would kill me if he knew about the latter….probably would kill me if he learns that I am not letting the former rest either." Shae looks at Tal and said, "Alright then, _ad'ika_ ….let's get this suicidal mission started."

She turns and heads to a shed that she had made into her work shop, she just needed to come up with something and she needed to make sure that it didn't point to her people….that only one person was behind it.

 _Let's get this_ dini'la _train moving….there's no turning back, I had made my choice and I will make sure none of my Verd gets dragged into this…._


	4. Chapter 4

Verd _, vheh'yaim_

The female Mandalorian shakes her head and said, "No, I'll tell you how we found her…the older _vode_ know this story and I was just recently told this… _Ba'vodu_ doesn't like talking about it…" She takes a deep breath and began her story, "It happened just as the Clone Wars ended, _Ba'vodu_ was outside when this happened doing some last minute chores and when suddenly he heard a loud crashing sound came from just a few meters behind the tree line. So he went to investigate it and what he came across surprised him, there in a small crater was an escape pod…he walked towards it and looked through the window and saw that there was a pregnant woman inside, badly hurt and bleeding…and she had gone into labor so that was probably the reason why she had crashed." Jay silently gasped and covered her mouth. "So he broke into the pod and carried her back to the _vheh'yaim_ , yelling for _Ba'vodu_ Rav to help the woman…after a hard and long birth, a baby girl was born but her mother was slowly bleeding and tried as hard as she could _Ba'vodu_ Rav couldn't stop the bleeding." Shae pauses briefly but continues on, her voice breaking, "She was asked who she was but she just shook her head and whispered weakly, to take care of Kestra and raise her as one of our own…to protect her from those who would harm her…and a few minutes later, she had died and Ba'vodu burnt her body. He mentions her during his list names of the departed, an unknown woman who died before she could even hold her baby…he told me that she wasn't strong enough to touch her baby but he could see that she had wanted to."

There was silence and Venku broke it by saying, "So no one knew her mother?" Shae shook her head and said, "Nope, she wasn't from around here and _Ba'vodu_ found out what she meant by protecting her from those who would harm her…she was three when she first used the Force and after that he tried everything to hide her and protect her, and that was by teaching her how to defend herself."

Cin crosses his arms over his chest and said, "That would explain why Kes'ika preferred to hang out with us…in fact I remember that she got into a fight with some kids when she was younger." Shae nods her head and said, "Yeah, it was because they kept calling her _aruetii_ even though she had been raised since birth in our cultural…everyone knew about how she came here and about her birth mother expect for _Kes'ika_ and those boys were so mean to her but she never once cried…at least that's _Ba'vodu_ told me, I was with my mother during those times and Kestra never brought it up nor did she like talking about it." Not only that but Kestra had known she was different, she just hadn't known why she felt that way.

There was silent and then Shae broke it by saying, "I wish that we could have told this to Kestra but sadly she was killed before we even could." She lowered her head slightly in grief; Shae looked up when she felt someone's hand on her own and saw Vhetin there. She had to force herself not to react by the comforting touch by blushing; it was a comforting touch and nothing more. "I'm fine, Vhetin….I just miss her."

"I miss her too," Vhetin said before he pulls his hand away and sits back.

She clears her throat and said, "It's getting late, you can sleep here for the night if you want to and if you decide to stay, do not leave the house at night….there's been a pack of Kalo Wolves running around here lately."

"Why haven't you called the Rangers to get rid of the pack?" Kal asked.

Shae shrugs her shoulders and said, "They haven't been bothering us and we don't leave the clearing at all so we figured we'll be safe….for the time being that is." She stands up and points down one of the hallways, "The guest rooms are down that way, make yourselves comfortable and remember: no leaving the house at night no matter what." With that she turns around and walks out of the room, her strill was soon to follow after her.

Cin and Jay decided to stay the night while everyone went back to their homes; they stayed up for a few more hours before going to bed. As Jay lay down in bed, she could hear howling from a distant as if they were mourning as well.

 _Morning_

Shae was cooking in the kitchen when Jay and Cin got up in the morning; Tal was lying just outside the doorway to the kitchen. Tal opened one eye when he heard them enter but closed it soon afterwards with a snort. She looked over her shoulder when she heard that and smiled, "Morning….I see that you two stayed."

Cin sat down at the table and said, "Yeah, they wanted to return to their own homes and not impose on you any longer than they had to."

"I see…well, that's too bad breakfast is going to be good," she puts down a plate and bowl before she picks up a datapad and goes through it, making no move to get herself a plate.

"You're not eating?" Jay asked her.

"No, I already ate…excuse me, I have things to do," Shae said with a casual wave as she heads out, Tal quickly follows after her.

Jay looked at Cin and said, "You know after doing a mission with her, I thought she would be a little more…I don't know, open."

"The Verd Clan isn't well known to be very open with others, they tend to keep to themselves," Cin explained. "And that means we can't stay here too long either, Shae may not mind us being here but her _Ba'vodu_ would…no matter how friendly he was to us."

With that being said, they ate their food in silence before getting up and heading out of the building. Cin could see Shae near the tree line; she looked to be talking to someone on her comlink. She notices Cin looking at her and she waved, smiling.

Cin waved back before climbing into his speeder and taking off with Jay right behind him.

Shae watched them leave in silence before she turns back to the conversation that she was having with the man on the other end. "I understand but you are asking me to blow up an Imperial Garrison….not something that's very easy to do unless you have something in mind, sir."

The voice on the other side was crackled a bit and it didn't sound normal so she knew that he was trying to keep their identity a secret from the Empire. "I know, _Seroc_ Verd but you are the only one from your planet who is willing to go against the Imperial presence there."

"Yay me…" was the sarcastic response from Shae. "I know but at least tell me that you have a plan about how I should proceed with this."

"Oh, my dear _Seroc_ Verd….I just give you the missions, you are the artist on these sort of things so you can figure it out."

- _Click-_

Shae stares at her comlink in silence before she turns it off with a huff, clipping it back onto her belt, "An artist…right…and I swear if he's insulting me every time he calls me 'Seroc' I am putting a bolt right between his eyes."

She pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs, "Not only do I have to deal with the whole Death Watch problem but I now have to deal with an Imperial problem as well… _Mand'alor_ would kill me if he knew about the latter….probably would kill me if he learns that I am not letting the former rest either." Shae looks at Tal and said, "Alright then, _ad'ika_ ….let's get this suicidal mission started."

She turns and heads to a shed that she had made into her work shop, she just needed to come up with something and she needed to make sure that it didn't point to her people….that only one person was behind it.

 _Let's get this_ dini'la _train moving….there's no turning back, I had made my choice and I will make sure none of my Verd gets dragged into this…._


	5. Chapter 5

_Imperial Garrison, Keldabe_

Shae zoomed in with her HUD at the Imperial Garrison that was across the street of the building whose roof she was on. Lots and lots of guards was what she saw, she frowned as she removed her hand from the side of her helmet. It was empty of staff, she had made sure of that she wanted no blood on her hands.

She sighs heavily and pulls away from the ledge; she lifts her arm and starts tapping out some commands on her gauntlet. Shae looked up when she picked the whirring sound of a lifter droid heading towards the Garrison. She waits for a several moments until the red dot on her holomap is inside the Garrison before she pushes a button on the gauntlet and seconds later a loud explosion. Shae quickly gets off the roof and mingles in with the crowd that was starting to form; she could hear the murmuring and whispering.

The female _Mando'ad_ saw Cin and Jay on the other side of the crowd but she stayed away from them, she looks away from them just in time to see some Stormtroopers finding a ball shaped metal object. A few seconds later she heard a crackling voice, which told her that one of them must have touched it.

"This is Shriek-Hawk, I am the leader and the only member of a Rebel cell on Mandalore…let me just say that no one knows about this cell so it's useless asking because everyone is just hearing about this now. While Mandalore has given you permission to stay on this planet, know this: there are those of us who did not agree and do not want your presence here. We see you as a disease and there's only one way to get rid of a disease: by cutting it out completely….Good luck trying to find me and remember this, if any Mandalorian is harmed or falsely accused another Imperial Garrison will be blown into the sky."

And with that the transmission stops, Shae casually pulls away from the crowd and starts to walk towards the area where she left her speeder. They wouldn't be able to track the recording, she had help from a friend who looped that transmission through many planets and would lead them down the wrong path.

Jay looks at Cin and said, "What do you think about this?"

Cin tips his helmeted his down and said, "Not sure, on one hand I agree but on the other I don't…it'll most likely provoke the Imperials to act which in turn would provoke this Shriek-Hawk to react as well."

She looks back at the burning wreckage of the Garrison before her, whoever Shriek-Hawk was they covered their tracks perfectly. Anything that would link that droid back to whoever was behind this was no doubly melted away by the explosion or fire.

Cin turns to Jay and said, "Let's go to the _Oyu'baat_ and see if Aramis has heard anything about this person."

Together they headed to the _Oyu'baat_ and as soon as they entered the tapcaf they saw that it was more crowded than normal. Jay was the first to see Venku was waving them over and as they drew closer, she saw a familiar face with them.

"Ge'tal!"

The man smiled at her and said, "Hey, Jay…I heard through the gossip tree that you've been a very busy woman."

Jay shrugged and said, "Well, you can't believe what they say all the time, right?"

"So you didn't volunteer to go send some Trandoshans packing on an Imperial world with us _Mando'ade_?"

She chuckled sheepishly and said, "That does sound like me."

Ge'tal laughs before looking at Cin, "Vhetin, long time no see."

"Yeah, how have you been? And where's the Wookiee?"

"I've been better, mainly been staying on planet ever since…well, you know," Ge'tal trailer off and laughed wearily, Cin knew who he didn't want to mention: Kestra. "As for the Wookiee…I have no idea where he went, he disappeared the same day we had her memorial."

Cin went silent, thinking about the girl who was like family to him. She had been violently taken from him and everyone, Ge'tal wasn't the same man as he was before her death and Shuk'orok had gone off to who knows where. Even Cin wasn't the same after her death; he felt like something else had been taken from him….which is why he tried to not think about Kestra, he still hadn't recovered from her death.

Ge'tal cleared his throat and said, "Anyways I take it you are here for more information about our Shriek-Hawk person?"

"Yeah," Cin said clearing his mind from all thoughts of Kestra. "Have you heard anything about this person?"

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Your guess is as good as anyone's but what I think is the person is _Mando'ad_ , at least that's what my gut is telling me."

Venku frowns at that and said, "That doesn't give us very much information about the person."

"True and the list of the _vode_ who would want to kill some Imperials is awfully long too," Ge'tal said with another shrug of his shoulders.

"So we have no leads on the identity of this person?" Jay asked.

"Nope, whoever it is covered their tracks very well," the red cladded Mandalorian said as he stands up. "Sorry but I have to go, I've been looking for Shuk'orok ever since that day and I think I am on to something…sorry, I can't say much don't want to lift your hopes." With that he waves and walks out the tapcaf just as Shae enters it.

Jay frowns when she saw the look on Shae's face when she had pulled her helmet off but she didn't say anything though, Shae was always worrying about something.

Shae sat down at an empty table and buried her face in her hands, sighing heavily. Osik _, I don't think this guy is on the right side as the others not after what he told me to do next_ , she thought. _And I didn't like what he said afterwards….what did he mean by that? That if I wouldn't do it that he would do it himself?_

From what she knew he never did the dirty work himself, it would appear he didn't want to dirty his hands so how would he do this?

She was jarred out of her thoughts by a woman running into the tapcaf, yelling, "Another Garrison blew up! There's a child trapped inside!"

Shae's eyes flew open and she quickly stood up, she ran past the woman putting her helmet on as she did so, Osik _! That man was insane and didn't care if anyone died!_

She arrived at the burning building and quickly typed some commands on her gauntlet before running into the building. Her armor would keep her cool but it had a time limit and she hoped to find the child before the time limit went off. Shae typed on the side of her helmet, she wanted to see for cool signatures since the heat signature setting won't work at all right now. Shae looked around of a small form and she pauses in front of a desk, her audio filter picked up a faint whimper.

Shae crept around the desk and kneeled before peeking into the opening, there curled up into a ball was a girl who appeared to be five. "Hello, _ad'ika_ …what's your name?"

"Tara," the little girl said weakly.

"Okay, _Tar'ika_ …I am here to get you out of here," Shae said as she grabs a jacket that someone had left behind and doused it with a white foam. "Come to me and I will get you back to your parents, okay?"

Tara nods her head before she crawls out and Shae wraps her up in the jacket as she picked up the little girl. "Hold on tight, _Tar'ika_ …we're going to make our own exit." She lifted her gauntlet. "Cover your ears." The little girl clapped her hands over her ears and Shae fired a missile before leaping out of the burning building just as it collapsed, she rolled making sure to keep the girl well protected and stood up. She gently placed the little girl down and just as she was straightening a man and woman in _beskar'gam_ were running towards them, yelling the little girl's name.

 _They must be her parents_ , she thought and sure enough, the man lifted the girl and both he and the woman smothered her with kisses and hugs.

"Thank you so much, _vod_ ," the woman said looking at Shae. "She must have ran inside just before the explosion."

"My ball went inside after the droid did," Tara quipped.

Shae chuckled and said, "Next time, _ad'ika_ …leave the ball." She dusted off the ash and dirt off her shoulders.

"We can't thank you enough," the man said cradling his daughter gently to him.

She reached up and ruffled the girl's dark hair, "No thanks needed, I just did what I had to….family is everything to us."

Shae waved before she started to walk away, she pauses when she sees Cin and them standing ahead of her apparently they seemed to be waiting for her. She walked closer to them and Jay stepped towards her and said, "Are you okay, Shae?"

She shrugged her shoulders and said, "A little warm but I'm fine…the building isn't but I am."

Venku laughed at that and shook his head, "That was pretty gutsy, Shae."

"A child was inside a burning building and I did what I felt was right," Shae said. "Family is everything to us and we need our future _Mando'ade_ to grow big and strong."

She narrows her eyes as she looks back at the burning building, now she knew that her contact wasn't on their side at all…most likely he knew that the girl ran inside and just didn't care. Chakaar _just angered the wrong_ Mando'ad, she thought before she turns to face the others. "Sorry, guys but I need to look at my armor to see if anything got damaged by the heat…I'll see you all soon." She waves and walks off, heading to her speeder…she needed to contact Kalo Wolf and tell her the news about the _chakaar_ who has qualms about spilling the blood of innocents.

 _A few weeks later, Oyu'baat_

Cin and everyone were at the _Oyu'baat_ throwing a farewell party for Shae because she was leaving that very same day. It had come as a surprise to everyone since she had made no mention of it during the past three weeks. "Thanks for the invite, Cin."

"Figured that you needed this after all the excitement that had happened this past few weeks," Cin said.

"Yeah, nothing more exciting like running into a burning Garrison to save a child that had wandered inside after he ball," Shae said with a chuckle, taking a swing of her drink.

Suddenly Aramis came over holding a small white pup in his hands and handing it to Vhetin, saying, "A mysterious woman had come in earlier and told me to give this to you the next time you came in. The woman looked somewhat familiar but I didn't know why and couldn't place her face when I had asked what this little one was, she didn't say and just said that she was a gift from a friend and that she would be your friend in turn before she left."

Cin looked at the pup before he hesitantly took it from the older man, it looked up at him with its red eyes and chirped before nuzzles its face into his neck and sighing.

Jay frowns as she looks at the small white furry bundle, "It doesn't look like any creature that I have seen before."

Shae was looking at the creature with an unreadable expression on her face, Cin noticed it and asked, "What's wrong, Shae?"

She blinked and looked at him, saying, "It's nothing…what are you going to call her?"

"Her'? How can you even tell, Shae?" Jaing asked looking the pup over.

Shae shrugs her shoulders and said, "She looks like a girl to me…she's small and delicate like one but I bet she could be dangerous too." She smirks and salutes Jaing with a wink before she downs the rest of her drink. "So what are you going to name the little darling?"

Cin looked at the pup for a while before looking up and saying, "I think I'll name her Kes."

Shae lifted an eyebrow at that, "After Kestra?"

Cin nods his head and said, "Yeah…I have to do something to honor her memory."

"I think Kestra would like that, Cin," Shae said gently placing her hand on his shoulder before she stands up. "And is that the time? I better get going…man, you _vode_ can really be distracting when you want to be." She gives everyone hugs goodbye, when she gets to Cin she gently pats the pup's head before hugging Cin. "You two take care of each other, okay? She may be small but she won't be for very long."

Shae pulls away and gives a wave before she heads out into the busy day time hours of Keldabe.


End file.
